sorting Programs menu alphabetically

I right click and select "Sort by Name ", but I always end up with two sets of alphabetizations: a list of programs with no specific icons, followed by a list of programs with specific icons (see attached image).

Is this just happening on my computer, or does it happen to others as well? Is there any way to combine the "icon-ized" programs with the non- and have them all sorted as a single list?

 

I don't believe so.
The ones at the top are folders, that contain other programs. IE if you select one of them, a list of programs (or a list of folders) will appear.
The ones at the bottom, are real shortcuts to programs.

 

Those two different entities are Directories and Files, as defined by the system.

The easiest way to commingle them would be to drag and drop them manually to where you want them. They'll normally stay put unless you click to rearrange them by alphabetical order.

Another method would require you to rename all of them and assign a number in the first part of the name but that's going a bit farther than most people want.

 

In retrospect, WhitPhil, duh! Now that you point that out, it seems terribly obvious, but it had never dawned on me before.

Ditto to Surferdude (duh! again!) - your solution is perfect! Plus, that way I can move the items I rarely use to the end of the list.

Thanks to you both!

 

What a fantastic word!

Sorry, it just made me smile, and seeing as the question's been answered I hope no-one minds the post!

Andy.

 

Thanks Andy, I rarely get to use that word! I've been lying out in the weeds and waiting patiently for my big chance.

To give a tinge of credibility to this repartee (another good term, what?), I will say that I have adopted a method of preserving the order of the items on my Start Menu that seems to work for me. It's a matter of exporting the proper Registry key. The one that works for me is:
[HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu2\Programs]

I think that if you're using the Classic Start Menu, you may need:
[HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs]

Store that somewhere and run it when the menu gets scrambled, like after a Registry compaction or such.

Logging off is required for it to take effect.

HTH